Pokemon Tracker
by Ocelot9
Summary: After his fathers demise, a boy with nothing but a poochyena decides it's time to take his life back, catching wild pokemon in Orre, and tracking his fathers killers. (Description will update with saga's)
1. Chapter 0

**Short preview thing, just to see how this goes. Sorry for shortness, actual chapters should be longer. **

Orre region

"You want a Trapinch? Not an easy find my friend, you know the rate?"

"Yeah, Rare's cost extra, this... what we're doing here, this is legal right?"

"What? pay a man to catch a wild Pokémon, then deliver it, perfectly legal, if I was poaching the Pokémon there would be a problem, these are wild, so I should have Trapinch to you in two days latest, work for you?"

"Uhh... sure, that's great, my son will be so grateful."

"... This Pokémon is for your son?"

A slightly hesitant nod is all the answer I receive.

"You're a great father, helping your son, tell you what; half off for your son."

"T... thank you, but why?"

"You remind me of my father, let's leave at that."

Dad... I miss you...


	2. Chapter 1

**I promise something interesting is comming, i don't own pokemon, yada yadda...**

Growing up in the Orre region isn't easy, wild Pokémon stopped appearing a long time ago, most trainers are from other regions, or had the Pokémon imported by ship. So when my father came to me on my 8th birthday and gave me a poochyena, I was a child like a child getting a puppy... actually; I was a child getting a puppy.

I named him Trace, and to this day he's my best friend, I spent the next two years learning about poochyena, which in turn made me research other Pokémon, my dad was a Pokémon doctor, so we had plenty of books, I was a tad sociopathic so I had plenty of time. When I became ten I got my trainer license as most kids do, not far to go in Orre so I mostly stayed with my father as he did... whatever he does, as far as I remember he studied genetics of Pokémon, like how they evolve and stuff... after I became ten I started doing some real training with Trace, again I was sociopathic, so I trained in remote areas, a small oasis, a cave, and a rocky canyon like area, on the surface these areas were insignificant, but upon inspection I found signs, not like; stop signs but signs of Pokémon in the area, WILD Pokémon, in Orre. I couldn't run home faster if I tried, all I could think of was telling my father my findings, the only thing that stopped me was realising I left Trace at the oasis... he wasn't really happy about that.

I still remember the mixed reaction my father had when I told him I found wild Pokémon; I can't blame him for his skepticism, I was eleven, but he decided to believe me. We took a trip to the oasis where I left some bait last time, and there were hoppip all over the place... it was actually a little freaky, they just jump around, bump into each other and keep going, actually scared me a little... but finding the wild Pokémon in these areas really helped my father's research, I wanted to tell other people, but dad told me it wouldn't be a good idea, he was right as I now understand, people would crowd the areas catching Pokémon, left, right and center, destroying the habitat.

I spent a lot of my time training with Trace, and learning how to track Pokémon, Trace was a great asset as he could smell other Pokémon. Yeah, essentially everything was perfect; my father was a wealthy professor, I had Trace and a promising chance as trainer. But then it happened; I'm not entirely sure what happened, but it happened... my father was murdered, I was returning from visiting my grandfather in agate and... They just shot him... I watched as he fell to his knees and fell over... I was petrified, I couldn't do anything but stand there as loaded his body into a van... it's been six years since the event, I still don't know who they were, or why they killed my father...

I lived with my grandparents for two years, before I ran away; it wasn't because I disliked them. I only left to find the sick fucks that killed my father... I thank science that Trace was able to pick up the scent, I'm... I'm not gonna lie, if it weren't for Trace, I probably would have ended it right there, I would have walked into the garage, gotten a rope and killed myself... but Trace was there, I knew I couldn't leave him, as my father never willingly left me... I only wish I could have said goodbye, the saying; "you don't know what you have until it's gone" holds a lot of truth...

Sorry... off topic, so me and Trace set out to find the fucks that ruined my life. This, was my first Tracking.


	3. Chapter 2

Present day

_"Are you crazy?! You'll kill us all!"_

_"Not if you shut up and let me finish this, now quiet down before you"_

"Whose footprints are these?"

_"... You're kidding right?"_

"Trace get him!"

Past... sorta... past-TENSE I suppose...

Keeping up with a poochyena hot on a trail isn't easy, the killers took a long winding road, one I thought would never end, much like the pain I would cause them for what they've done.

The trail drew to an end deep in the desert, near what appeared to be an old-world steam train, no van, no potential body disposal... I lost them... I should have known that two years was to long... I should have chased them right there... why did I freeze... why didn't I do something... fear... the reason is fear, I was afraid of dying myself, how ironic, I was afraid of the very essence that has tempted me for two years, was what stopped me from attempting to avenge my father... 'If we are to look only to the past, or the present, we are certain to miss the future.' John F. Kennedy... I don't know why, but that saying always runs through my head... sorry, train thing... I entered the train to see what was around, turns out it was a diner of sorts, people... great... I approach the counter to get some food... I'll try seeing if there are other buildings in the area later.

"What'll you have kid?"

"Whatever you have that's edible."

"That's a stretch, but I'll see what I can cook up."

"Thanks, oh yeah and something for my poochyena."

"Oh, so you're a trainer, explains what you're doing way out here."

"Uhh... how does that explain it?"

He turns his back to me and shifts a few objects around to pull out a box covered in dust, which he proceeds to blow the dust off, causing me to cough, a lot... being allergic to dust sucks, like my life.

"Here they are; poke-balls, perfectly preserved thanks to the technology of pelipper casing!"

At first I try to explain why I really came here, but I thought that could wait.

"So why do you have poke-balls? I mean, there haven't been wild Pokémon for years."

"Why do you think the case was covered in dust? These are leftovers from when there was wild Pokémon. I kept them in case a trainer needed them for a journey; you seem like the adventures type."

How? How do I seem like the adventures type? I'm a sub-suicidal, sociopath and I suffer from insect-phobia.

"Well alright, how much?"

"Tell ya what, anyone asks were you got them, you point 'em in my direction, you can have these five free."

"Wow... alright deal, also uhh... how's the food coming?"

Not three seconds later Traces stomach growls, at least I think it was his stomach, as some guy who looks like I did something to offend him approaches me, oh how cliché.

"Hey kid! I saw you snooping around outside, I think I need ta teach ya a lesson about minding your own business!"

"And I think I need to teach you a lesson about proper grammar."

One thing in this world that brings me happiness is returning an assholes insult.

"Also, can it wait till after I've eaten?"

The owner who was only half listening due to a news report piped in by saying; "Foods gonna take a few minutes, you got time for a battle."

With that me and the jerk headed outside, I tried acting cocky, hoping he wouldn't challenge me, see; I avoided nearly all human contact before now, this was my first trainer battle... and I had no idea what I was up against.

"Alright ya little punk, now I'm gonna whup ya till ya learn to quit nosin' around!"

I am rendered speechless by his atrocious grammar, another reason I avoided people... no wonder I'm lonely, I criticize everything... who would want to hang around with me "OY! You gonna send out yer Pokémon or what?"

I need to learn how to stop zoning out.

"Yeah, yeah keep your shirt on... GO; Trace!"

"Heh, throwin' out a weak little pup like that? Spoink; clobber im'!"

Honestly? A psychic type, he's asking to lose.

"Trace lets end this quickly! Use bite!"

With that trace charged at Spoink dealing a painful bite, obviously it was super effective.

"Spoink you can take it, use psywave!"

... This guy can't be serious... he knows nothing about type match-ups, well, don't look a gift ponyta in the mouth.

"Alright Trace, use howl!"

Trace might be small, but his howl resonates across the dessert, raising his power, why didn't I just have him bite Spoink again? Because I'm twisted like that I guess.

"Ha! What a waste of a move, Spoink use splash!"

I... I... do me a favor, google a picture of Jean Luke Picard face palming. That is as close to how I feel right now as possible to explain.

"Alright, I've let Spoink stay conscious for too long, Trace bite!"

And finally trace, still pumped from using howl makes Spoink faint, if only I could howl and feel so good about it, maybe I'll try someday.

"I...I can't believe I lost to a snot-nosed brat like ya, who are you anyway?"

I decide to take advantage of this; "I am the emanating harbinger of Revengeance, seeking the corrupt and vile, and sending them to the darkest hereafters known to man and Pokémon alike, I am Brodie Grant, and I am the Tracker."

That felt good, the look registering across the jerks face is that of absolute shock, for the first time in two and a half years, I feel happy.

"Now if you'll excuse me; I believe my dinner is ready, come on Trace."

* * *

**Hi, author here, if you read my elder scrolls fic, you'll find the portagonists have the same first name, this is because my chars. are loosly based off myself, so bare with me.**


	4. Chapter 3

**It occurs to me I haven't described my character, at the current time in the story, he is 12, his has dark red hair, like the kid from XD but shorter, he wears black cargo pants, yellow t-shirt and a red vest, his bag is similar to the one strap bag worn by Desmond Miles, and a waist sheath for his trench spike And mirrored sunglasses. Also please review this; I want to hear your thoughts.**

Running, running... where am I running to? Why am I running to get there? My answer comes to me when I see my father, and the mercs with the truck, This time I'll do it right, I'll stop them... I charge at them this time, ready to die for my father. As the blade closes in on the neck of the nearest merc, I awake.

I wake up, my heart beating out of my chest, my hand with a death-grip on my trench spike; I quickly take a look around, I was apparently sleeping at the base of a tree, with Trace stirring himself awake beside me, pups are so cute when they sleep, it actually allows me to forget my problems for a moment, to just know he's there for me.

Once Trace is well awake I cook a little breakfast, nothing like a little bacon first thing in the morning, so while we eat, I'll fill you in on how I got to the forest near agate.

* * *

_After the battle with 'jerk'._

"Hey kid! I see ya handed Jimmy his rear, can't say I'm surprised; he only has that Spoink, really weird move-set on that thing."

I looked quizzically at the owner, as far as I knew, the moves splash and psywave were average considering it was only level 8.

"What was weird about it, psywave and splash are normal right?"

"Well yeah, but did ya see the other two moves? They aren't moves normal to Spoink."

"Jim might have just used some TM's."

Tm's are widely available in Orre, and unless I could have seen these alleged 'strange moves' I can't really tell.

"Hmm... alright then, well here's yer lunch, lucky for you theirs a doctor in the house."

I attempt to register whether or not this was a joke; I have a weak immune system.

"Uhh... thanks... here Trace; food!"

The ensuing scene of Trace leaping onto the counter, sliding on a plate, and flying onto the nearby juke-box was both terrifying and oddly entertaining, I'm glad he was okay, but I wish I had recorded that, clip shows pay well. Speaking of pay, my funds are starting to run dry; perhaps I should look for a job soon. I decide to check my PDA to see my funds (for the sake of the story currency will be an digital credit system, makes sense when you think about it, I mean surely people don't just carry around bills to give people who beat them,) to my surprise I have approximately 300 dollars more than I did before the battle.

"Ya know you win money every time you win a battle?"

It's kinda creepy how the cook knew what I was thinking.

"Uhh, how did you know what I was thinking?"

"I knew because you were staring at your PDA right after you paid for your lunch."

Ahh... "So your saying just by battling a trainer you can get money?"

"Eyup, matter of fact there's tournament in pyrite town in three days, of your interested."

"Alright, I suppose me and Trace have some training to do... uhh speaking of Trace?"

"Oh you're Poochyena? He was having fun spinning on the records of the juke-box so I put his food on the machine next to him, still spinning to."

I look over to said juke-box and see Trace grab a mouthful between the slow spins of the record player, if Trace was an anti-depressant medication, I think I just O.D 'd.

* * *

With only three days to the tournament I fear me and Trace won't stand much of a chance to win, being only level fifteen, his moves bite, howl, san-attack, and fire fang. The fact he knows fire fang means he was a special breed. But those moves might not cut it; I've reviewed some battles of trainers who entered and most of them have a fighting type Pokémon, so I decided to put these poke-balls to use.

I head to one of the poke-spots I found some time ago, I recorded a few Pokémon I found there, so I decided an Aron to my team, a steel/rock type Pokémon would be a pretty good pair, of course I also recall Aron being pretty uncommon, luckily I synthesized a sweet scent to attract Pokémon when my father was still... around... the things we could have done together, the scientific advances, he was actually very close to creating a means of communication with Pokémon. Who would hate science so much they would kill people... (If you are a strong religious person please note I mean no offense and this is not my real life opinion on religious persons) Christianity... they've hated science since year one, even took pride in killing hundreds of people for following "Satan's will", creating medicine, researching disease, all of these things defied the will of god, so you should have seen their faces when Pokémon; the very symbol of evolution, came to be, I wouldn't be surprised if some freaking church has my father crucified in their fucking basement!

Huuh... huhh... I'm sorry... that was uncalled for; let's just say a situation involving some Christians are why I'm a homeschooled sociopath. The odds my father was killed by a religious group is incredibly low.

Right, so I have an artificial sweet scent to help me find Aron, didn't take as long as I anticipated, within fifteen minutes we found an Aron, time to battle.

"Trace use fire fang!"

I know that ground types aren't really damaged by fire moves, but I am trying to catch this Aron. T Aron reels slightly from the force of the bite, but quick counterattacked with a headbutt, nothing for Trace to worry about.

"Trace use sand attack!"

I understand how sand attack can work outside, but I'll never understand how it works indoors.

Aron attempts to retaliate with mud-slap, but missed thankfully.

"Stand down Trace, I'm gonna try a poke-ball, Go poke-ball!"

Why I had to shout that I don't know. Upon contact with Aron the ball opened and released a bolt of energy grasping Aron, one... two... Damn, Aron breaks out before the final shake; I should weaken it more I suppose.

"Trace use bite!"

Once again trace bites down hard on Aron, The Aron winces and reels back slightly, returning the favor with a metal claw. It landed a critical hit on poor Trace; luckily he has still around half his health.

"Alright Trace, I'm gonna try another poke-ball!"

Fingers crossed I throw another poke-ball, it hits Aron... one shake... two... three... {CLICK!}

"OOHRAH! Aron captured!" "Yena!"

Uhh... I have no idea why that was so energizing.

I let Aron out so I can give it a nickname. "So let's see, your male, level 16, and you're a steel type... hmm... I know; 'Ironheade!' with an E on the end so they know you mean business."

... I feel like somewhere someone I know is face-palming...

* * *

_Later that day at the entrance to pyrite town._

I park my motor cycle on the outskirts of the town, if you can call it a cycle; it's one of those weird trikes that has one wheel on the back, and two in the front, only my front wheels are these specialized hover modules, looks slightly like a pod racer from star wars, how I can to earn said bike? Let's say when you've researched Pokémon for the first ten years of your life, working at your grandparents day-care has perks.

So I park and walk into town, it's rusty as fuck; I'm amazed they didn't call it rustburo, but I suppose that's taken. The town looks like something from a sci-fi cowboy flick, I assumed that someone would walk up to me and say;

"We don't take kindly to strangers 'round these parts."

Wow, right on cue. Some guy wearing a bandana and chaps walks up to me; the only thing missing is a ten gallon hat.

"Listen here kid; we ain't lookin' for any snot nosed brats stinkin' up our tournament."

"Don't worry, I intend to shower, I can see you have no such intention."

This was more fact than insult; he smelled like rusty carrion, don't ask me how I know that scent...

"Grrr... alrighty ya little shit, I challenge you to a Pokémon battle! Go Geodude!"

Hmm... Rock type... "Go Ironheade!" As the beam of energy shoots out of the ball Iron (just as an abbreviation, I will say Iron) appears a few inches above the ground, causing him to land and cause a few cracks in the ground.

"Alright ya twerp, Geodude use Rock throw!"

The Geodude produces a large rock it then hurls at Iron; it practically bounces of Irons head, as rock moves aren't very effective against steel types... Why do I always seem to battle people who don't understand type matchups?

"Ironheade start strong; use metal claw!"

Arons may have the stubbiest legs I've ever seen, but the metal claw lands as a critical hit, making it extra devastating against Geodude.

"Geodude! Yer gonna pay for that runt! Use Magnitude!"

Magnitude 1, not too bad, Iron is still over half health. "Ok Iron', use harden, just in case."

Iron complies and his defense rises.

"HA! What a waste of a move, Geo! Use mud sport!"

Geodude proceeds to throw mud around the area, which was honestly useless, I really hope the trainers in the tournament are better than this fool.

"Ok then... Iron use metal claw once more!"

Iron lashes at Geodude with his seemingly un-existing claws, landing a blow doing some high damage; I don't imagine Geodude could take another hit.

"Alright Geo, time for yer last resort!"

"Wait; Geodude can't learn last resort."

"Not that sort of last resort, this kind; use self destruct!"

Geodude curls itself into a ball and begins to glow violently; I only hope Iron has enough health left.

"Gee... ooo... DUDE!"

The explosion is larger than I expected, engulfing the nearby area I lose sight of Iron, which in itself brings me unease. As the dust begins to settle I still can't see Iron...

"Ironheade where are you!?"

For a few moments I feel true terror, I only just caught Iron, I don't want to lose someone else... he can't be gone he just...

My fear and sadness are quickly replaced with relief and pride as Ironheade walks out of the dust cloud, which settles to reveal the Geodude, which has passed out.

"I... I lost..." Seriously? "Uhh... duh, you used a move that faints your own Pokémon."

My PDA chimes as the winnings are moved to my account, looks like I can have a good dinner tonight, I then notice that a crowd had apparently drawn around during the battle as some onlookers begin to clap and cheer, I feel very neutral about this, as a person with self-esteem issues, I like it, as a sociopath, the crowd is unsettling.

After the battle I head to the hotel to rent a room and take a well deserved rest.

"Alright you two, come on out!" As I toss the poke-balls in the air Trace and Ironheade appear and land gently on the bed.

"You were awesome today Iron, welcome to the family."

Even as I say that I feel a painful pang, with the family I left, the family I never knew, and the family I lost... my spirits are soon partially restored as I notice Iron leveled up and had learned Iron defense in place of harden. "Alright, I think we stand a decent chance in three days."

A quick knock on the door shifts my mood, though I don't know why.

"It's open!" I don't feel like standing up, I haven't eaten since lunch, which was six hours ago.

"Umm hello..."

Some guy comes into my room, looks about twenty, maybe younger, looks like he works a desk job.

"Umm, me and my son were watching your battle today and you were amazing, my son wants to train a Pokémon like yours, would it be possible to find another Aron like that one?" He motions toward Ironheade.

"I suppose, I can give you the location, but keep quiet, need to preserve the habitat."

"Umm... yes, here's the thing, between my job and family I'm kinda bogged down at the moment, and I want to surprise my son for his birthday, so I was wondering if you could catch one? I can pay you."

"Wait a second, you're telling me you would pay me to catch a Pokémon for you?"

"Uhh... that's the idea... is that not alright?"

I take a second to put together my answer, to get payed to catch Pokémon for people... with my knowledge and Trace's nose...

I quickly form a cool and collected look and tilt my sunglasses that I forgot I was wearing.

"When do you need the Aron?"

"Uhh... preferably by the day after tomorrow, the day before the tournament."

"Sir, meet me here around eight o'clock tomorrow, and tell your son; 'Happy birthday'."

This; was my first Pokémon tracking.

**(I'll get to the Agate thing next chapter.)**


	5. Chapter 4

By eight am next morning I had arrived at the entrance to the cave where I had found Ironheade, I was about to enter when Trace's ears perked up, I started listening myself, and I heard voices. At first I thought it was just a trainer or two who stumbled across the cave, but when I really listened I was terrified by what I was hearing, I heard the distressed cries of Pokémon, I could hear the pain in their voices, and somebody was harming these Pokémon. I pull the trench-spike from its sheath and slowly proceed into the cave, as I worked my way down into the cave I saw the Pokémon, rows and rows of small metal cages, loaded with Zubats and Arons and Whoopers. The sounds of voices are easier to distinguish over the Pokémon; I only catch every other word however;

"Alright, I think that's the last of them, let's get the hell outta here, smells like damp shit." I only see two guys in the cave, both wearing some weird head-piece and uniform.

"We can't leave just yet, there's still the matter of _this." _With that he holds up a aerosol can, an aerosol can that once contained my triple S, (synthesized sweet scent) I didn't realise I left it here yesterday.

"Ahh so what; it's not like whoever left that here is going to try and find us if he comes back."

"Huh... maybe your right, by the way Gresh; where's Hansen?"

Shit... there's another person here?

"He said he would be near the entrance and work his way back down here."

Oh crap, I got to get out of here before,

My thought was cut short by a burlap sack, I guess Hansen thought he could stop me before I could stop the others, of course just covering my eyes and not holding my arms isn't an effective form of incapacitating someone holding a very big knife. At the time I had no intention of killing him, so I just slashed at his leg, a bit below the knee, and he drops to the ground screaming, alerting his team mates.

"Shit that's Hansen! He's in trouble, go Parasect! And use Spore!"

"Dammit Gresh warn me first!" With that the unnamed thug dons a gasmask, something I learned to carry ever since the Hoppip incident... tell you later.

The spore fills the cave causing Hansen to pass out being the only one without his gasmask, at least he stopped screaming. With the spore filling the cave I couldn't risk calling Trace or Iron out, it was me vs. Two thugs and a Vileplume, the odds, for once, aren't in my favor.

"So Gresh; are you and no-name there going to let the Pokémon go? Or are we going to have a little problem here? Because the way I see it; you have an overgrown fern, and I have a knife." A hollow threat, I wouldn't blink if forced to kill a man, but I could never harm a Pokémon. A Pokémon is like a child; it is never born evil, it needs to be raised, and forced through evil.

The nameless one speaks first; "Aright man, just don't hurt us, please!" He starts to raise his hand over his head before Gresh hits him, "What are you doing Kord? (So that's his name...) He's just a freakin' kid, Parasect slash this punk!" Using a Pokémon to attack a human, these guys aren't afraid of being caught, with me in the cave, big mistake.

As Parasect lunged at me with its claw I block with my trench spike, then there we were; me and a Parasect, holding off each other's blade. Time seemed to slow with the adrenaline pumping through my veins, and I realise the spores have just about cleared, if I can stall just a little longer...

"Grrr... Parasect use Giga drain!"

Parasect leaps back and tries to sap my HP. "Hey Gresh; you know health stealing moves don't work on humans right?" By this time the spores have cleared out, and I release Trace from his poke-ball, maybe the odds are in my favor.

"Alright Trace; come on out and bit this s.o.b!" Trace bursts from the poke-ball and bites down hard on Parasect, a critical hit. And seeing as this wasn't an official battle; "Trace Fire Fang!" and with that the Parasect faints, Trace howls in triumph.

"Shit! Return Parasect, Kord grab Hansen and let's get outta here!"

"But Gresh, what about the Pokémon?!"

"Screw the Pokémon, get Hansen and run!"

With that the cave was void of humans save for me. I moved over to the cages full of Pokémon and started breaking the locks with the hilt of my trench spike, I would just pick the locks, but that takes time and I don't intend to let them reuse these. As I finish the final cage and notice an Aron with a limp, after a quick talk I convince it to come back to the hotel so I can treat its leg.

"And that's that! Your leg should be healed by morning." The Aron made a little noise I can't quite identify, but I assume it was a good noise as Aron smiled, yeah, they have mouths. I looked over to the clock on the wall, quarter to eight...

"Hey Aron, I don't suppose you would be interested in making a child's dreams more realistic?"

The Aron didn't seem to into it... "They can feed you." And that sealed the deal, I put Aron into the poke-ball and waited for the man, whose name isn't necessary, came and retrieved Aron, I made off with 10000 poké. (Which isn't that much in the game, but for the sake of the story, it's a healthy amount.)

After dealing with those thugs I spend the rest of the night watching past battles of the pyrite tournament, tomorrow I'll do some cram training with Trace and Ironheade. I think we have a good chance. Two days from now people will know; The Tracker.

**If you all could pretend the Agate thing never happened, I would appreciate it. Also; this will be the last longer chapter for a while, until I start the "Justice of Hearts" saga... which is the new, still subject to change, name for the next saga. Prepare for short chapters mostly about battles. **


	6. Chapter 5

**So, sorry about the overly extended time for this chapter, but I had a few computer crashes and had trouble over the summer, I have some easy courses this term; so hopefully I can crank out more chapters. P.S I decided I'd do two final chapters for the first saga as apposed to mini chaps because I lost most of them in the crash.**

* * *

I had finally entered the Pyrite battle tournament, my team; Trace: Poochyena, Lv.17 Moves: Bite, Howl, Sand-attack, and Fire Fang. Ironheade: Aron, Lv. 20, Moves: Metal claw, Iron defense, headbutt, and mud-slap. Why I felt a summary was necessary I don't know.

But after the first three battles I made it to the final round, which is why Trace leveled up. And now I was setting up for the battle with a guy named Zime. I don't know what his team will be like but Trace and Ironheade have held their ground so far. I quickly recheck Trace and Iron for any injuries, forgetting the fact my Pokémon were just healed by the coliseums healing machine... thing. Never learned the real name of that contraption they have at all Pokémon centers, or even how they work for that matter.

Before I could go deeper with that thought, the announcer calls for the finalists to get ready to battle. I decide not to retract Trace and Iron into their poke-balls so we can all walk into the arena together. Trace: my faithful Point-man, Ironheade: our team tank. We walk into the arena together, as does our opponent Zime, with his Vigroth and Combusken. The announcer does his thing and the crowd cheers, I could care less.

Neither of us waste a second before attacking;

Zime moves first; "Combusken hit Aron with double kick! Vigroth slash his Poochyena!"

I have to think fast before the attacks can land... "Trace hit them with a sand-attack and blind 'em! Now Iron use mud-slap!" The strategy almost works the sand attack stops Combusken from hitting Iron, but Vigroth hits Trace full force. Fortunately it doesn't cause Trace too much damage, and the mud-slap hits Combusken, dampening its fire attacks.

Zime Gets his Pokémon ready for the second attack; "Vigroth, hang back and use protect. Combusken use over heat!" Before I could even tell my team what to do; the arena heats up like hell. Both Trace and Iron take some damage, not as much as they would have if mud-slap wasn't in effect. When the heat dies down I tell them what to do.

"Trace, bite Combusken! Ironheade, use iron defense!" I decide I'll copy Zime's strategy with defensive assault... what I just said makes no sense.

Trace bites down hard on Combusken, dealing a critical hit. Combusken reels back from the hit and it's health drops below two thirds, but not quite half. And Vigroth has yet to take a hit; Trace and Iron are around three quarters. I wanted to end this battle fast, but so far that isn't the case.

"Vigroth hit Aron with a brick break! And Combusken, use Double kick on Aron too!"

Shit he's trying to take out Ironheade... gotta think fast; "Ironheade meet Vigroth's brick break with a Headbutt! Trace, try to stop Combusken with Bite again!" It was all I could do. The Pokémon all collided with each other, causing a large cloud of dust that blocked the Pokémon from our sight...

When the dust finally settled and I could see what happened; Ironheade had Hit Vigroth first, and Trace had one of Combusken's legs, stopping it from hitting Iron.

Both released their opponent and retreated to their half of the field, they both lost a small amount of health from countering active attacks, but were otherwise okay. Vigroth and Combusken on the other hand; had both taken a number of damage, Combusken didn't take as much damage as it did last turn due to the type advantage and lack of critical hit, but Vigroth had taken both damage from the Headbutt, and from its own slash backfiring when Iron hit it's arm.

The battle was heating up now, and the crowd was roaring, again; I could care less about the crowd, but I thought it was time to move ahead of Zime; "Trace, fire-fang on Vigroth, Ironheade use Headbutt on Combusken!"

Before Zime could retaliate Trace was already biting down hard on Vigroth, if Pokémon could be harmed within battle; Vigroth would be bleeding pretty badly. As for Iron; he hit Combusken head-on (no pun intended) and Combusken reeled back from the blow. It was nearly fainted.

"Grr... Combusken, use over-heat! And Vigroth, use Reversal on Aron!" Reversal!? Shit, at Vigroth's current health it wouldn't be too bad, but Iron is weak to fighting type moves, at his current health...

"Combusken, what's wrong?" Zime's shout snaps me out of my thoughts, apparently Iron's Headbutt caused Combusken to flinch, but Vigroth charges at Iron and is undeterred, (how many people reading this have needed to Google these words?) and hits Ironheade hard.

I cringe as Iron rears back from the hit and his health bar drains to the point he may not withstand another hit... Now that I think about it, how do we see these health bars anyway? Do we have sub dermal implants that give us a Heads Up Display during Pokémon battles?

Before I can drift deeper into that thought I realise I need to attack again. "Alright, Trace, use Howl! Ironheade, use Headbutt on Combusken!" As Trace howls it resonates throughout the dome, creating a powerful aura around him. Iron then charges and smashes into Combusken full force, causing Combusken to finally faint.

"Combusken NO! Grr... Alright Vigroth take the Aron down with one more Brick break!" Before I was even able to grasp the situation Ironheade was already lying unconscious on the ground... I've never had a Pokémon faint before... it feels as though I just failed to save a family member... again.

My vision blurred and I barred my teeth as I recalled Ironheade to his ball. I had never felt this much power, but I had to focus; Trace and I had a battle to finish.

"Trace use Fire-fang on Vigroth and finish this!" I felt as though through my words the energy I just felt passes into Trace, as the faint red aura surrounding him from his howl thickens and he chomps down on Vigroth with all his might. _"Vi- GROTH!" _Vigroth screams as Trace wrestles it to the ground, teeth around Vigroth's waist. I've never seen Trace attack with such ferocity. But before I can dwell on the thought the battle is over, Trace and Ironheade won.

The crowd starts cheering, but all I care about is getting to the desk, getting Ironheade healed and my money and leaving. Before I could Traces runs up too me and paws at my knee, his way of saying to stay a little longer, enjoy the victory that he and Ironheade made possible.

I motion for him to climb onto my shoulder, and he does so. I then turn to face the crowd, and I speak; "My name is Brodie Grant, and I am the Pokémon Tracker!" I didn't expect the reaction of mass applause but I guess that's what happens when you win a tournament. I turn and leave from the arena and head to the receptionist to have my team healed and collect my winnings. "You did amazing out there kid, you know that?" the receptionist asks as she heals my team.

"Well it was a battle, I've had them before."

She returns my poke-balls to me and asks another question; "But don't you see how much of a disadvantage you had? His Pokémon were both level forty!"

I freeze in position, how did I not notice thee level difference, and how did I win? "I... I didn't even know... wow; I guess I raised some awesome fighters!" As I say this Trace and Ironheade pop out of their poke-balls and bark in agreement.

"Oh, I almost forgot; here's your reward: 6300 poke$ and TM01- Focus punch."

6300 dollars, that's quite a nice reward. I bid farewell to the receptionist and start to walk across the bridge, wondering where to go for dinner.

"Hey, you're the guy who just won the pyrite tournament right?"

"Boston Pizza!" my face runs red as I realise I just blurted out the name of a restaurant as opposed to an actual answer. "Ah... sorry, you caught me in mid thought. Yeah, I'm the guy who won the last tournament, why do you ask?"

He dismisses my outburst and continues; "My friends are looking for though trainers to take some special Pokémon and join our group. And you caught their attention. You don't need to join right away, but at least hear our leader out." My suspicion meter just went off the charts, a man I don't know approaches me, offers me a Pokémon In exchange for listening to his leader... "Well I'm sold."

"Great! Please follow me this way." As he starts to walk I hold back slightly and quickly motion to a police officer standing nearby, I use some sing language to try to tell him this guy is really weird. I think he gets the jest as he nods to me, and I begin to follow the man.

"Oh here's my helmet! I took this off a while ago because of the heat and forgot it here." He picks up a blue helmet and puts it on when I see it: it's him... one of the thugs that killed my father! I start to unsheathe my trench spike when common sense kicks in: he couldn't have been with them; he's only a year older than me. From what I could tell, all the people who killed my father were around their late twenties. Same type of armor though... so I will keep up this act until I get more information.

He leads me inside an old building that looks like it may have been a factory of sorts once, but I'll be darned if I could figure out what was produced here. As we walk in the complex he begins talking to a girl behind a counter I quietly release Trace and ask him to snoop around and find a discreet way I can get back in.

"Alright, turns out the boss isn't in right now, but here's the Pokémon we promised." He hand me a poke-ball that contained a Linoone. I quickly glance toward where I last saw Trace; he had disappeared, good, staying out of site. The blue armored guy turns to me again "All we ask is you come back some time soon."

"Oh don't worry; I intend to come back very soon..." I realise that may have been better if I said it while walking away, but he seems undeterred by this, so I leave. I move over to the police officer I motioned too earlier to find he fell asleep at his post, remind me to never raise a family here.

As I look back to the complex I wonder if it was a good idea to leave Trace, I don't know what I would do if I lost Trace. He's everything I have, aside from Ironheade...

Before I can delve deeper into that unpleasant thought I hear an ever familiar barking at my feet; Trace had found a way in and out. After a quick hug we head back towards the building, but first I also bring out Iron, just in case. With that we began working our way through the vents.

_"Dad; if I find out _who_ killed you, I'll make sure they suffer, or I'm not the 'Tracker'."_

* * *

**Last chapter (of this saga) coming soon, I hope...**


End file.
